The ''Journal of Controversial Ideas'' (JCI) is a cross-disciplinary,

open access Open access (OA) is a set of principles and a range of practices through which research outputs are distributed online, free of access charges or other barriers. With open access strictly defined (according to the 2001 definition), or libre op ...

peer-reviewed Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work (peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review ...

academic journal An academic journal or scholarly journal is a periodical publication in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as permanent and transparent forums for the presentation, scrutiny, and d ...

that aims to allow academics to publish using

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

s if they request it. The first issue of the journal was published on 23 April 2021 and it is expected to be an annual publication.

History

The journal was established in November 2018 by academic moral philosophers Francesca Minerva, Jeff McMahan, and

Peter Singer Peter Albert David Singer (born 6 July 1946) is an Australian moral philosopher, currently the Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University. He specialises in applied ethics and approaches ethical issues from a secular, ...

. It began accepting submissions in April 2020, looking for "careful, rigorous, unpolemical discussion of issues that are widely considered controversial, in the sense that certain views about them might be regarded by many people as morally, socially, or ideologically objectionable or offensive", and published its first issue in April 2021. The idea for the journal started when Minerva received death threats and had difficulty finding employment as a result of a 2012 article she co-wrote on the ethics of

child euthanasia Child euthanasia is a form of euthanasia that is applied to children who are gravely ill or have significant birth defects. In 2005, the Netherlands became the first country to decriminalize euthanasia for infants with hopeless prognosis and int ...

in the ''

Journal of Medical Ethics The ''Journal of Medical Ethics'' is a monthly peer-reviewed academic journal covering the field of bioethics that was established in 1975. According to the ''Journal Citation Reports'', the journal has a 2019 impact factor of 2.021, ranking it fou ...

''. Minerva then published a 2014 article in '' Bioethics'' titled ''Why Publishing Pseudonymously Can Protect Academic Freedom'' that led to discussions with McMahan and Singer that Minerva said gave the core concept: "We thought we should establish this journal where people can send papers they’re afraid couldn’t be published in other journals." According to McMahan, ''JCI'' "enables people whose ideas might get them in trouble either with the left or with the right or with their own university administration, to publish under a pseudonym". Of the ten articles published in the first issue of ''JCI'' in 2021, three of the authors used pseudonyms.

Reception

The Editors of ''

Philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

'' congratulated the journal for upholding the spirit of

John Stuart Mill John Stuart Mill (20 May 1806 – 7 May 1873) was an English philosopher, political economist, Member of Parliament (MP) and civil servant. One of the most influential thinkers in the history of classical liberalism, he contributed widely to ...

, but wondered whether the use of anonymity would hamper the quality of academic debate; they also noted the irony of leading academics from some of "the most prestigious universities in the liberal western world" launching what in another era would be known as a

Samizdat Samizdat (russian: самиздат, lit=self-publishing, links=no) was a form of dissident activity across the Eastern Bloc in which individuals reproduced censored and underground makeshift publications, often by hand, and passed the document ...

Tyler Cowen Tyler Cowen (; born January 21, 1962) is an American economist, columnist and blogger. He is a professor at George Mason University, where he holds the Holbert L. Harris chair in the economics department. He hosts the economics blog ''Marginal R ...

wrote that the journal would highlight the "very real pressures for excess conformity in academia", but could also "ghettoize" ideas.

Russell Blackford Russell Blackford (born 1954) is an Australian writer, philosopher, and literary critic. Early life and education Blackford was born in Sydney, and grew up in the city of Lake Macquarie, near Newcastle, New South Wales. After graduating with ...

welcomed the journal and said the first issue was "at a level comparable to most well-regarded journals dealing with ethics or public policy"; Russell also noted that while it seeks to be cross-disciplinary, the first issue was very much a "philosophy journal".

References

External links

Journal of Controversial Ideas
- official website
Peter Singer launches Journal of Controversial Ideas
University Center for Human Values (Princeton, April 2021) {{DEFAULTSORT:Journal of Controversial Ideas, The Academic freedom Multidisciplinary academic journals English-language journals Academic journals established in 2021 Works published under a pseudonym Creative Commons Attribution-licensed journals Online-only journals

History

Reception

See also

References

External links